The moment that sums up this amazing week.
February 26, 2011
February 25, 2011
Five Question Friday!!!
1. Can you drive a stick shift?
I actually prefer it, however, they don’t make a lot of mini-vans in a stick.
2. What are two foods you just can’t eat?
Food allergies aside, I absolutely cannot eat liver or lamb.
When I was a kid, when my Dad would have to work late in the city, sometimes, my Mom’s best friend, Linda would come over. I loved Linda, but dreaded those dinners, because it meant we were having liver and onions. I told them EVERY SINGLE TIME it would make me throw up, but they made me try it every time, anyway. And, every time, I puked. Every single time.
Lamb just gives me the skivvies.
Maybe it’s because it is usually served with mint jelly.
Mint jelly?
No.
3. Do you buy Girl Scout Cookies? What is your favorite kind?
As if I could possibly stop myself.
I think my favorites are (in this order):
1. Tagalongs (Peanut butter and chocolate…need I say more?)
2. Thin Mints (Perfection)
3. Samoas (Such an excellent texture)
4. How do you pamper yourself?
I really don’t.
I should, but seriously, working full-time and being a full-time Mom, who has the time?
Also…
I don’t do manis or pedis, don’t get invited on “Girl’s Night Out” outings, can’t seen spending the money on a massage, etc.
I guess it would be my bi-annual outings to the city with Kim, Erin and Michaela.
Love those.
So much.
5. What is your nickname and how did you get it?
My nickname is dependent upon who you are speaking to.
My Dad used to call me Beth, Bethy or Bethel, because Beth is my middle name.
Kim, Erin and Michaela call me Amer, which is an obvious derivative of Amy.
My work friends seem to call me Boz, which is an obvious derivative of my married last name, and a nickname that Dh (as well as his sister and brothers) have worn their entire lives.
I don’t have a nickname like “Scoop” or “Funky Pants,” but, that’s okay.
I’m good with Amy or Mama. 🙂
February 23, 2011
Monkey Girl Turns 10!!!
I guess it’s only appropriate that, in a week full of posts about the birth of my last baby, I talk to you about the birth of my first baby.
Because, 10 years ago, today, Monkey Girl was born.
And my life was forever changed.
For the better.
So very much for the better.
I’m going to refer you to my post about her birthday last year because it has the best pictures of her as a little one, and explains how I felt about her birth.
But, I’m also going to tell you that I consider myself a very lucky woman.
This oldest child of mine is just…remarkable.
Her capacity to love is unreal.
Her concern and care for others, over the course of her 10 years, has always been inspiring.
Kids are supposed to be ego-centric. It’s the way they are wired.
Not Monkey Girl.
She’s funny, she’s intelligent, she’s creative.
She’s everything I wish I could be.
I love this girl so much, I can’t even stand it sometimes.
And, I hope she always, always knows it.
So, celebrate my beautiful, oldest child with me, today.
She’s worth every second of celebration you can give her.
February 21, 2011
We’re Gonna Need a Naming Contest!!!
I am so proud to introduce our newest monkey! More info to come when I don’t have to type it on my phone! 🙂
We couldn’t be happier or more in love with this little guy!
February 18, 2011
Five Question Friday
Not the most interesting set of question this week, but it’s what they had for me!
1. Have you worn the same outfit more than one day in a row?
Yes, yes I have. Not to work, but on weekends or over the summer, I certainly have.
And, I’m not ashamed to say it.
2. If you had to choose any LARGE city to live in, which would it be?
New York City.
I love that place.
3. Fly or drive with the kids on vacation?
Hard to pick, as I’ve never flown with the kids, anywhere.
4. What is your idea of “spring cleaning”?
Opening the windows, vacuuming, dusting, sweeping, and just starting over.
5. What is the best book you have ever read?
Um, seriously?
Perhaps I haven’t been clear about exactly how many books I’ve read over the course of my life.
I have no idea.
I’ve loved many of them in their own way.
However, books that have stayed with me are The Thirteenth Tale, Mystic River, and The Pillars of the Earth.
February 17, 2011
Lost and Found
Isn’t it funny how you can look for something in the same place a thousand times?
Then, you see someone else looking there and you get annoyed.
You say, “I TOLD you, I already looked there!” as if their looking there means that they don’t trust you to be able to see something that might be hiding there.
And, you get annoyed with them, even though you know you are going to look in that same place again, yourself.
Because it’s a logical place for whatever is lost to be?
Yeah.
Well.
The kids were making a fort in the basement tonight.
They pulled all of the cushions off of the couch in the basement and then pulled the cushions off of the couch in the living room.
They used them to make their fort.
My sister-in-law graciously offered to take Monkey in the Middle to basketball practice tonight, so while we were looking out the picture window for her to turn the corner, I looked down at the skeleton of the couch.
I’ve looked in there a million, bajillion times.
I saw, what I thought was this little green flashlight thing the kids like to play with.
I pulled it out.
It stuck a little, because it was wedged in there, pretty tightly.
When I got it out, I looked at what I had in my hands.
Monkey Girls DS Lite, that has been missing since, oh, I don’t know…maybe as long as last summer?
I couldn’t believe it.
Seriously, couldn’t believe it.
We have all looked in that couch more times that we can imagine.
When I’m just sitting there, reading, I just put my hand down between the cushions, just in case.
Never found it.
And yet, today, there it was.
What a sigh of relief to find it.
And how annoying that it’s taken us this long to see something that has been there all the time.
February 15, 2011
Monkey in the Middle – Birthday Boy!
As if Friday wasn’t hard enough, with my baby turning 5, today, my big boy turns 7.
Let’s just remember what this 7 year old looked like yesterday:
It WAS just yesterday, right?
Because, it sure feels that way.
And now?
He’s Mean Joe Green in his football stance.
Time goes so quickly.
And I realize how ridiculously cliche it is to say that, but I honestly don’t know where the time went.
7?
Does that mean he’ll be 8 on this day next year?
Too much.
It’s all too much!
Anyway, I love this boy and am so happy to celebrate with him today and every day!
February 14, 2011
Love
One of the things we say about Monkey in the Middle is that he is someone who feels every emotion more deeply than anyone else.
It’s why he can go from zero to sixty in terms of his anger.
It’s also why he is the biggest snuggle-monkey in the house.
He is me.
When I love, I love deeply and unconditionally and with everything I have.
And today, being Valentine’s Day, is a great reminder of how we should all strive to love with everything we have.
Just walking through the school office, a few minutes ago, there were reminders of how people express their love.
There were at least two bouquets of roses for two teachers, a fruit bouquet for one of our male teachers, and I watched as my friend opened a neat gift from her husband that he sent to school.
In my home, there are reminders of love every day.
Inside jokes and laughter.
Kisses, tickles and touches given on the fly, as we walk by each other.
Laundry and dishes being done without having to be asked.
Valentine’s cupcakes for the kids that Real Man picked up to surprise them for breakfast.
It’s the little things, in our house, that remind us of how much we all love each other.
So, may your Valentine’s Day be filled with both the big and the little reminders of love.
February 12, 2011
Five Question Friday on a Saturday
1. Would you rather be on ABC’s Extreme Home MakeOver or TLC’s What not to Wear?
No brainer. Extreme Home Makeover. I probably NEED What Not to Wear, but I want an Extreme Home Makeover.
2. Do you have any tattoos?
Nope. I’ve toyed with the idea many times, but I keep imagining what it will look like when I’m 80, and realize it’s just too ridiculous to imagine.
3. Do you tell your kids about things you did growing up?
That would be a huge negative. Don’t get me wrong, for the most part, I was a good kid. I didn’t do any of the typical things that kids can do. I didn’t drink, never touched a drug, etc., but I was an only child, and therefore, had imagination to go around in order to keep myself busy. For example, the kids will never hear about when I broke into the neighbor’s house while they were on vacation. I was 9. At least not from me!
4. If the traffic signal turns yellow, do you stop or speed up?
Um, doesn’t yellow MEAN floor it?
5. What’s your preference: chocolate or chips?
A combo, really. There are times when I crave chocolate, and there are times when I crave chips. There are times when all I can think about is a sweet/salty mixture. Both are terrible for me, but I think, in the long run, the chips are probably better for me, as I have very, very low blood pressure (100/60 is high for me) and so I rationalize that I need a little sodium in my life.
